An Unusual Educational Phenomenon

Education experts, most of whom have never been in front of a real school class, have been confounded by a new national study that the students in schools on military bases far outperform students in regular public schools in both reading and mathematics and in every grade tested. And, more impressively, the gap between black and white students that shows up in almost every state of the union is virtually missing when students go to public schools on military bases. Now, children of military personnel are not inherently smarter than those of civilian parents, although moving around often might help students moving into new situations, experts say. When all the variables were thought of, however, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn and that is, the kids do better because they are not subject to the federal regulations of No Child Left Behind and the draconian testing schedule that the regulation brings everybody else. Nor, are they slaves to the current president’s ridiculous “Race to the Top.” There is no test prep done in Department of Defense schools, because the tests are used solely to identify a student’s academic weaknesses and to assess the effectiveness of curriculum. “We can be more nurturing and teach more, because we don’t worry about a student’s ability to bubble in an answer on a standardized test,” one DOD principal told New York Times columnist Michael Winerup, and therein lies the answer to why DOD students, both black and white, do better. “We don’t micromanage and the individual principals and teachers decide what will be taught, not a central bureaucracy.” Perhaps New York City and its educational dictator, Michael Bloomberg, should take a look at those findings and act accordingly. He won’t, of course, because he is too busy handing over public education to his millionaire friends and their cronies.

An Unusual Educational Phenomenon
Why does this seem unusual to people that children taught in a military environment do better. The military schools are run a lot like life in the 60's and 70's. You did your work well and you were praised. You did it poorly and you were brought to the attention of your peers. No participation trophies here. Nobody wanted to do poorly in front of their friends so everyone tried harder. Oh, and maybe the most important part. When I did something wrong my teacher gave me a whack to the back of the head and told me to straighten up and fly right. By the time I got home my mother found out and she gave me a whack to the back of the head and told me to straighten up and fly right. We all know what happened when dad got home. As my father was not in the picture my mom got two shots. Hillary said it takes a village to raise a child. No, it just takes a few people to care and not be afraid of our politically correct world. Schools need to teach the 3 R's (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic). Parents need to teach their children discipline and manners. In the military this is not an issue. Maybe we should go back a few decades in our thought processes and have fewer administrators, more teachers, and a few parents as hall monitors who remember what it takes to get ahead. This is kind of like all the studies that give us astounding facts such as, If you eat a lot of sweets and sit around you will be more prone to obesity.